Grenade sight for firearms



Dec. 7, 1943. R, o, PVERSINGER 2,335,881

GRENADE SIGHT FOR FIREARMS Filed Feb. 2. 1942 s sheets-sheet 1 mlm! d i www Ruaaall v. Persil-15er anim/mq@ Dec. 7, 1943. R. o. PERslNGER *Y 2,335,881

`GRENADE SIGHT FOR FIREARMS Filed Feb. 2, 1942 :s sheets-sheet f2 'Hulsaell El- Peringer l Dec. 7, 1943. R.'o. Pl-:RslNGr-:R 2,335,831

GRENADE SIGHT Fon FIREARMS Filed Feb. 2, '1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 fig- EL Patented Dec. 7, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to removable sighting means for a rearm.

An object of this invention is to provide sighting means adapted to be placed upon a firearm to aid in the accurate launching of grenades.

Grenades are usually launched from the muzzle of a riiie at greater angles than those readable on the conventional riiie sights which, of course, are used when iiring breech loaded projectiles. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide sighting means which allow a rifle to be accurately fired at greater angles of lire than may be obtained with the conventional type of sights on those rifles.

Another object of this invention is to provide sighting means on a rie for large angles of re and to dispose such sighting means on the rifle with no interference to the use of the conventional sights on the rie. i

Another object of this Yinvention is to provide Y sighting means for accurately launching grenades from a riile.

Another object of this invention is to provide grenade launching sighting means adapted to be placed on any one of different types of riiles.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof Will'clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 discloses a sighting means incorporating an embodiment of this invention and mounted on a firearm of the U. S. Army 1903' type.

Fig. 2 discloses a plan viewlof the assembly shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 discloses a plan view of the sighting means shown in Fig. 1 but mounted on a firearm of the U. S. Army 1917 type. l

Fig. 4 discloses a section substantially on line `4I of Fig. l but with the sighting bar 25 having zero elevation. v

Fig. 5 discloses a section taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 discloses the sighting means of Fig. l mounted on a rie having a cross sectional portion as indicated in this figure, said rifle is of the type adopted by the U. S. Army to supersede the 1903 and 1917 models.

Fig. 'l discloses an end view of a modified y Fig. 8 discloses another means for sighting a firearm at high angles.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the sight IBI of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the sight IEl2 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is an end view of sight lllI on the nrearm of Fig. 8.

Fig. 12 is an end view of sight IiiZ on the nrearm of Fig. 8.

'Ihe sighting means S disclosed in Figs. 1-'7 are adapted to be centrally clamped on any one of three types of` rearms; suitable faces are placed on the sighting means rendering that feature possible.

The sighting means S disclosed in Figs. 1-6 is assembled on the particular firearm by threading the front end of the firearm through the closed cross sectional portion shown in Fig. 4 until corresponding cooperating faces on the sighting means and rearm are adjacent; the sighting means S is then clamped to the iirearm by means of clamping screw Ill which carries thumb screw Il and also the self-aligning knurled clamping member I2 through the ball and socket connection I3.

In a rearm of the 1903 type (Fig. 2) the sighting means S is aligned on the firearm by means of the rectangular sight projection I4 on the rearm entering a corresponding cut-out portion I5 in the sighting means S.

1n a firearm of the 1917 type the sighting means is aligned on the rearm by bringing face I6, Fig. 3, on the sighting means S into abutting relation with the oppositely disposed face I1 on collar IS of the iirearm with rounded portion 3E] (Fig. 6) abutting a, corresponding rounded portion (not shown) on the rearm, and with reference mark I9 (Fig. 6) on sighting means substantially in line with the center of the bore of the rearm.

In a firearm recently adopted by the U. S. Army and having a cross section as shown in Fig. 6, the sighting means S is aligned on that iirearm by bringing faces 2l), 2l on the sighting means S into close abutting relationship with corresponding faces 22, 23 respectively on the firearm.

With corresponding faces aligned in any one of the three arrangements described above, the sighting means S` is clamped to that particular rearm by turning clamping screw IQ.

The sighting bar 25 of the sighting means S is pivotally mounted on the cylindrical projection 25 (Figs. l and 4) of the ring-shaped cross sectionalportion 2l and is clamped in relation thereto by means of thumb screw 28. The end of thumb screw 28 is peened over slightly at 29 so that it and the sighting bar 25 may not become separated from the closed cross sectional portion 2l. The movable sight bar 25 has mounted thereon the pair of aligned sighting members 25a, 25h; member 25a partakes of a peep sight but it is understood that sighting members 25a, 25h may take various forms and shapes as is well understood in the art. Sight har 25 also includes the integrally formed plate or ange 25e (Fig. 4) having an arcuate slot 25d therein for the passage of thumb screw 28 which together with metallic washer 28a. and resilient Washer 28h serve to clamp plate or flange 25e to the ring-shaped cross sectional portion 2l in adjusted relationship. Graduations 25e on plate 25e are read using as a reference line zero line 21a on the extension 2lb of ring-shaped portion 2l. The particular graduations are in mils but it is understood the scale of the graduations may be different than those on the drawings.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7 provision is made whereby in assembling the sighting means S on the rearm no threading operation `is required, as in the above arrangement. The ring-shaped cross sectional portion 2i" Vis made with an opening Ria' through which the body of the firearm is adapted to pass. A straight round wire bent to form the perimeter of a rectangle 2lb serves as a closure member for the opening Elia. One leg 27e of the rectangular-shaped closure member is pivotally held in the turned over edge 2id of portion 2'9"; the adjacent edge 'Ele' of portion 2l is also turned to serve as a hook for the other parallel leg of the rectangular-shaped closure member. In this modication the spring biased rod Iii' serves the same function as the screw Ii! above and in addition `may serve to more securely holdY closure member Z'i'b in its hooked position shown in Fig. 7 when the body of the firearm is disposed between the lself-aligning clamping member I2 and cooperating faces on the ring-shaped portion 27.

The sighting means Sy and the modification shown in Fig. '7 disclosed herein have been shown on a riiie but itis obvious that their use is not limited to application on rifles oi one particular vcaliber `may be yapplied on machine guns or other earms wherein it is desired to Orient the path of a projectile which may not necessarily be a muzzle loaded projectile.

The sighting means disclosed herein may be varied from a depressed elevation setting to approximately a 45 elevation setting but it is obvious that by slight modication the slot 25d (Fig. Y1) could be made longer or shorter whereby a `larger or smaller range of elevations may be provided.

The physical size of the sighting means -is such that does not project within the line of sight of the normal sights carried on the firearm when accurately firing breech loaded prof jectiles and as a consequence the operator may alternately lire muzzle loaded grenades and breech loaded projectiles without changing the physical position of his sights. Also, it is obvious that for small angles of iire the sighting means S on the firearm may be used instead of the normal sights on the gun if conditions warrant such use.

In the arrangement disclosed in Figs. 8 to 12, two members IGI, |92 each having a pair of vsighting members thereon is mounted in spaced relationship along the longitudinal axis of a fireafm.

held on the firearm by a corresponding flexible coil spring |03 which has one end fastened to a sighting member and adapted to partially encircle the firearm and have its other end hooked and insertable in a hole IM in the sighting member.

Sighting members IBI, I|2 each have an auX- iliary sight Illia, lil2a, and a main sight Iillb, |0223, respectively.

After the sighting members IIN, |02 are mounted on the firearm by hooking the springs I G3 in holes |04 in spaced relationship determined by the length of ilexible link Ill'I, the auxiliary sights lilla, ||i2a are aligned with the `gun sights I G5, |06 by sighting along the firearm. Sights |135, |96 are the normal sights furnished with the firearm. After auxiliary sights lilla, Ili2a are aligned, use is made of the main sights I@ Ib, Ib to aim the firearm as the muzzle loaded iirearm is discharged. Main sights'llb, I02b are of the fixed type but it is apparent that adinstable members may be mounted on one or each of the sighting members whereby the angle of iire of the aimed rearm may be varied.

Projections similar to those shown at IUIp (Fig. il) on member ISI may be provided to cooperate with cooperating grooves in the wooden stock or metallic portions of the firearm in order to more firmly secure the sights on the iirearm.

A exible metallic connecting link Iiil serves as a gauge for the correct spacing of the sights lala, IIlZa, on the iirearm and also prevents the two sights from becoming separated when disassembled from the firearm. Also, since the link |07 is preferably made flexible the disassembled sighting members require a minimum carrying space.

It is readily seen that the sights IBI, |62 are readily adjustable on the rearm vby virtue of the resilient springs IIIS.

I claim:

l. A pair of sighting members each having a pair of sights thereon, lmeans for adjusta'bly mounting the members on a firearm having aiming means, a link joining the members and serving to space the members a known distance `apart, one of the sights of each member -being adapted to be aligned with the firearm aiming means to accurately position the other sights relative to the axis of the firearm, and the other one of said sights on each member being adapted to be aligned with each other and with a target.

2. The same as in claim 1 and said ,link being flexible.

3. A sighting means for a Ifirearm having an aiming means disposed on itsuppersurface with the center of the aiming means passing through the center of the rearm barrel comprising: a plate having a surface adapted to cooperate with the upper surface of the firearm, a sight on the plate and extending upward, a second sight `depending downward from the plate and adapted to be disposed along the side of the firearm, and means adapted to adjustably align the iirstmentioned sight with the aiming means on the rearm 4. A sighting member of substantially inverted L-shape, a sight on each leg of the inverted L-shaped member, and a resilient member joining opposite ends of one leg of the inverted `L-shaped member to secure said member to the firearm.

5; A pair of sighting members each having a pair of sights thereon, means for adjustably mounting the members l.0n a rearmhavne aiming means, one of the sights of each member being adapted to be aligned with the rearm aiming means to accurately position the other sights relative to the axis of the firearm, and the other one of said sights on each member being adapted to be aligned with each other and with a target.

6. A pair of sighting members for a iirearm having aiming means, an auxiliary sight on each member, a main sight on each member, means for mounting the auxiliary sights in alignment with the rearm aiming means, and means connecting the members and spacing them a known distance apart.

7. A substantially ring-shaped member adapted to have included therein a portion of a firearm, said member having at least one face adapted to cooperate with a corresponding face on one particular type of firearm, means carried by the ring-shaped member and engaging the rearm for clamping said faces together, a sight bar pivotally mounted on the ring-shaped member, and means for indicating angular displacements of the sighting bar.

8. The same as in claim 7 and said substan tially ring-shaped member has a cut-out portion defining an opening for radial passage of the firearm through the ring-shaped member.

9. A substantially ring-shaped member adapted to have included therein a portion of a firearm, said member having a cut-out portion dening an opening for radial passage of the rearm through the ring-shaped member, a closure member for said opening hinged on the ring-shaped member, a spring biased self-aligning clamp carried on the lower portion of the ring-shaped member and engaging the rearm for clamping the same when in the ring-shaped member, a sighting bar pivotally mounted on the ringshaped member, and means for indicating angular displacements of the sighting bar.

10. A substantially ring-shaped member adapted to have included therein a portion of a iirearm, means carried by the ring-shaped member for clamping the ring-shaped member to the rearm, a projection on the ring-shaped member, a sight bar having a iiange extending substantially perpendicular to the line of sight of the sight bar,

said projection comprising means for pivotally mounting the sight bar, said flange having an arcuate slot therein, a clamping screw passing through the arcuate slot and retained by the ring-shaped member, and means for indicating the angular displacement of the sight bar.

RUSSELL O. PERSINGER. 

